Mutual force of electrostatic interaction

Two infinitely long, charged wires have uniform linear charge densities λ 1 \lambda_1 and λ 2 , \lambda_2, respectively. These wires are each placed in two perpendicular planes at a distance of d d apart.

Find the force of interaction between the wires.

2 λ 1 λ 2 ϵ 0 \frac{2\lambda_1 \lambda_2}{ \epsilon_0} λ 1 λ 2 4 ϵ 0 \frac{\lambda_1 \lambda_2}{4 \epsilon_0} λ 1 λ 2 2 ϵ 0 \frac{\lambda_1 \lambda_2}{2 \epsilon_0} λ 1 λ 2 ϵ 0 \frac{\lambda_1 \lambda_2}{ \epsilon_0}

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2 solutions

Steven Chase
Jul 3, 2017

I don't think this is an "Easy" problem, unless there's some shortcut I'm not aware of. Anyway, here's a "not so easy" derivation of the result.

Wire 1 has linear charge density λ 1 \lambda_1 , and Wire 2 has linear charge density λ 2 \lambda_2 . The wires are separated by a distance d d . x x is the position along Wire 2, relative to the position of Wire 1. From Gauss's Law, we know that the electric field strength from Wire 1 is:

E 1 = λ 1 2 π ϵ 0 r = λ 1 2 π ϵ 0 x 2 + d 2 \large{E_1 = \frac{\lambda_1}{2 \pi \epsilon_0 r} = \frac{\lambda_1}{2 \pi \epsilon_0 \sqrt{x^2 + d^2}}}

The horizontal component is (we needn't consider the vertical component):

E 1 H = E 1 d x 2 + d 2 = λ 1 d 2 π ϵ 0 ( x 2 + d 2 ) \large{E_{1H} = E_1 \frac{d}{\sqrt{x^2 + d^2}} = \frac{\lambda_1 d}{2 \pi \epsilon_0 (x^2 + d^2)}}

The horizontal force on an infinitesimal segment of Wire 2 is:

d F H = E 1 H λ 2 d x = λ 1 λ 2 d d x 2 π ϵ 0 ( x 2 + d 2 ) \large{dF_{H} = E_{1H} \, \lambda_2 \, dx = \frac{\lambda_1\, \lambda_2\, d\, dx}{2 \pi \epsilon_0 (x^2 + d^2)}}

The total horizontal force is:

λ 1 λ 2 d 2 π ϵ 0 d x x 2 + d 2 = λ 1 λ 2 d 2 π ϵ 0 1 d t a n 1 ( x d ) = λ 1 λ 2 2 π ϵ 0 ( π 2 ( π 2 ) = λ 1 λ 2 2 ϵ 0 \large{\frac{\lambda_1\, \lambda_2\, d }{2 \pi \epsilon_0} \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \frac{dx}{x^2 + d^2} = \frac{\lambda_1\, \lambda_2\, d }{2 \pi \epsilon_0} \frac{1}{d} tan^{-1} (\frac{x}{d}) \Big |_{-\infty}^{\infty} = \frac{\lambda_1\, \lambda_2 }{2 \pi \epsilon_0} (\frac{\pi}{2} - (-\frac{\pi}{2}) = \frac{\lambda_1\, \lambda_2 }{2 \epsilon_0} }

yeah, your derivation and result was correct.

Adharsh M - 3 years, 11 months ago

I think you wrote the cosine expression in terms of distances.

Adharsh M - 3 years, 11 months ago

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Yes, that's right

Steven Chase - 3 years, 11 months ago

you found my problem interesting ?

Adharsh M - 3 years, 11 months ago

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Very interesting. I think it belongs in the "Medium" category though.

Steven Chase - 3 years, 11 months ago

It would be interesting to try to generalize this for any tilt angle (with 0 degrees being perfectly parallel and 90 degrees being perfectly perpendicular).

Steven Chase - 3 years, 11 months ago

Thank you for your feedback. Keep solving :-)

Adharsh M - 3 years, 11 months ago
Adharsh M
Jul 3, 2017

( 2x20)/2ε° = F

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